"February 21 - Peter Gethin was born in 1940 he drove for @McLarenF1 + BRM He only won the 1971 Italian GP where his victory margin was 0.01s"
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November 2013 Eric Boullier made it clear that if the sponsership money form Quantum Motorsports came in his 2014 driver line up would have been Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg. However the money never arrived in time and the deal was permenantly called off in early January 2014. Subsecuently Lotus took on pay driver Pastor Maldonado who brings $30 million with him to Lotus which will keep them in F1. Today Boullier left Lotus with immediate effect and this sudden departure could be down to the team not securing the funds from Quantum Motorsprts and not being able to take on the two best drivers that he could. Undoubtablely Maldonado is a quick driver having won the 2012 Spanish GP but it was clearly the $30 million which has taken him to Lotus. With this Boullier probably wanted to clean the blood off his hands and move on from Lotus to a more stable team which is most likely McLaren or even Mercedes with Martin Whitmarsh's future in major doubt and with Ross Brawn's departure at the end of December. Boullier's loss has been Force India's gain and Force India could be the team to give Lotus a tough time in 2014. The sports governing body the F.I.A. recently announced a few additions to the rules and regulations for 2014. The biggest of which was a proposal for DOUBLE points for the final race in Abu Dhabi. This proposal, which was designed by the teams, has caused great controversy and has divided many people in F1. Firstly I think the idea set forth is a good idea, as it will have a good chance of taking the Championship down to the final race of the season, which is what we fans want too see. But, with it already being 25 points for a win for the other 18 races, the points tally's have got very much out of hand. In India Ferarri's Fernando Alonso celebrated scoring the most points in F1's history, with a celebratory helmet. But with Champions like Ayrton Senna, James Hunt, Juan Mannuel Fangio, Micheal Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel all racing with different race winning points and the positions in which you can score points this accolade which Alonso achieved is no great one in reality. Therefore with a whopping 50 points for a win in Abu Dhabi the points system get out of hand even more. However i do like that the top 10 in qualifying can hold position in a GP and still score points, which never used to be the case. Overall I believe that the double points plan is a good one, but the F.I.A. have to sort out the points system because scoring 50 points in one race is absolutely ridiculous. Since Pirelli revised their tyre compounds in July, Paul Di Resta and Force India have struggled for competitiveness. Di Resta’s Force India have struggled tremendously and failed to score a point since the British GP back in July until India and Abu Dhabi, where strategy played into their hands. Team Mate Adrian Sutil has also had problems with the new tyres having only scored of his 29 points since the new tyres where introduced in Germany and Hungary. Force India had showed so much promise at the start of the season, having lead over half of the Australian GP in March. The two cars finished 7th and 8th, giving them their best ever start to an F1 season. They where also going well until a wheel nut problem caused a double DNF for the Northamptonshire-based team in Malaysia. The team where challenging McLaren in the Constructor’s championship but their recent form has let them down. Sutil and Di Resta’s futures are unclear with Force India announcing that they would not reveal their driver line up until the end of the season. This could become a problem for them as by then they may not be able to find a drive for 2014. Just days after the death of Marussia test driver Maria de Villota, the world of motorsport was in mourning again after the death of Porsche Super Cup driver and the World Championship leader Sean Edwards during a track day in Queensland, Australia. The tragic accident occurred as Edwards (26), was teaching some young drivers how to drive the high performance Porsches when the car lost control and hit a concrete wall which had a useless tyre barrier in front of it. The impact crumbled the car and set the vehicle on fire. Edwards who was in the passenger seat was killed due to his injuries sustained in the impact and the serious burns he got from the blaze. The driver was stuck in the car for 2 hours as the marshals, fire brigade and ambulance services tried to free him from the
wreckage. Edwards is currently leading the Porsche Super Cup Championship with two races remaining in Abu Dhabi in three weeks. It is the second ever death at the circuit with the other coming in January in a Moto GP testing accident. No statement has been made whether Edwards will be allowed to take the Super Cup crown by default yet but we expect the announcement to come soon in the next few days. Sean will be remembered by all in the world of motorsport especially after his amazing drive in Monaco this year. May he rest in peace and from all here at the Racing Line our thoughts are with Sean's family and friends. Suzuka is one of the most historic and prestigious Grand Prix on the calendar. Memories of Senna vs Prost, Damon Hill and Sebastian Vettel all come to mind. Suzuka is all about the down force, with its fast, tricky corners. Its the only real test on the Pirelli tyres since Spa. Pirelli have taken the Medium and Hard compounds to Suzuka because of the lateral loads going through the tyres in corners like Spoon and 130R. Suzuka is a track where down force is key Lewis Hamilton said on his Facebook "It just needs crazy levels of down force on the car." This is definitely going to be a strong circuit for the Red Bull but also Mercedes. But with Ferrari struggling then this is a track they wouldn't want to come to. Yet it's not just a Red Bull track, it's a Vettel track, the German has been supreme to say the least at Suzuka and with the Championship within his reach he could be set too take it on Sunday. A 4th championship will move Vettel ahead of Ayrton Senna and joint with Alain Prost. Vettel is an awesome driver, but who will match him when it matters.
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February 2016
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